On the evening of 27 July 1689, Donald McBane, a Scottish government soldier fleeing the battle of Killiecrankie, is said to have jumped 18 feet across the River Garry, to escape pursuing Jacobite highlanders.
Born in 1664 near Inverness, McBane was the son of a farmer and publican. He was not particularly inclined towards academics and was recognized for his unruly behavior. After enduring mistreatment in a tobacco spinning job arranged by his father, he decided to enlist as a soldier, joining Captain Kenneth Mackenzie of Suddie’s Company in 1687.
During his service with Suddie’s Company, he participated in the battle of Mulroy in Lochaber in August 1688, where he fought against Coll Macdonald of Keppoch and his clan. In April 1689, he became a member of Ludovik Grant’s Regiment, one of several regiments formed by the Scottish government to support the revolution of William and Mary.
Shortly thereafter, he was assigned to Brigadier Barthold Balfour’s Regiment, which was part of Major-General Hugh Mackay’s Scots-Dutch Brigade, tasked with securing Scotland for William and Mary and countering the Jacobite forces loyal to the deposed King James.
On 27 July 1689, he fought with Balfour’s Regiment at the Battle of Killiecrankie. The highland charge broke most of the government line and as he fled the battlefield, McBane was chased by several highlanders, and in a desperate bid for survival, he jumped across the River Garry at a location now known as the Soldier’s Leap.
McBane wrote an account of the Battle of Killiecrankie and his jump over the River Garry in his book, ‘The Expert Swordsman’s Companion’, published in 1728:
“At last they cast away their musquets, drew their broadswords, and advanced furiously upon us, and were in the middle of us before we could fire three shots a-piece; broke us, and obliged us to retreat. Some fled to the water, and some other way; (we were for most part new men.) I fled to the baggage, and took a horse, in order to ride the water there follows me a Highlandman with sword and targe [shield], in order to take the horse, and kill myself. Youd laugh to see how he and I scampered about. I kept always the horse between him and me; at length he drew his pistol, and I fled; he fired after me. I went above the pass, where I met with another water, very deep. It was 18 foot over, betwixt two rocks. I resolved to jump it; so I laid down my gun and hat and jumped, and lost one of my shoes in the jump. Many of our men were lost in that water, and at the pass. The enemy pursuing hard, I made the best of my way to Dunkel [Dunkeld] where I stayed until what of our men was left came up; then every one went to his respective regiment.”
On McBane’s claim, Historic Environment Scotland in their summary of the battle mentions it as “an improbable jump of around 5 m across the rapids of the River Garry”. However improbable the jump may seem, anyone being chased by a group of highlanders intending to cut them to pieces would probably have taken the chance and leapt across the fast-flowing River Garry.
